Fighting for Alec
by shadowhuntingbookworm
Summary: Set after COHF, Sebastian has been defeated. Tessa and Jem live together in New York, but after Tessa receives a desperate call from Magnus regarding the kidnap of Alec, she and the other Shadowhunters gather to save Alec from the clutches of a rogue group of the Clave. Malec, Jessa, possible Sizzy and Clace, rated T for some dark themes and slight language
1. Chapter 1

Tessa sat flicking through the pages of a magazine absentmindedly as she waited for Jem to come home. She still couldn't believe how lucky she had been. Jem, her sweet, lovely Jem, had come back to her. After Will she had stopped herself from falling in love with anyone else, not just to honour her commitment to him but as a form of self preservation.

After Will had died it had felt like half of her heart had been torn apart; the only thing which kept her holding on in those following years was her annual meetings with Jem at Blackfriars Bridge. When Tessa went there and found Jem, not the Silent Brother but her Jem, she was so astounded she couldn't speak. Even now, when they were living in New York and were planning their engagement, it still felt surreal.

Tessa was interrupted from her train of thought by an infuriating buzzing from her phone. She grinned, thinking it was Jem who had only just been able to grasp the concept of mobile phones. Looking at the caller ID, she was confused to see it was Magnus Bane. Strange, she thought, Magnus hadn't spoken to her since after the battle with Sebastian. It wasn't that there was bad blood between them; they were still close friends. But after Sebastian had murdered Alec's parents Magnus and Alec had become even closer, being not only a couple but each other's support system. Magnus had been too caught up in his honeymoon period to worry about others, and Tessa didn't blame him.

She answered the phone and was met by a strangled voice.  
>"Tessa?" Magnus croaked.<br>Tessa's stomach dropped. Magnus was always so happy, she had never heard him like that. "Magnus what's wrong?" she said worriedly.  
>Magnus didn't reply, his breathing quickening on the other side of the phone as though he was having a panic attack.<br>"MAGNUS!" Tessa shouted, desperately trying to grab the warlocks attention. "Magnus for God's sake what's going on? Are you hurt? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?"  
>"No I'm fine" said Magnus, still crying on the other side of the line. "Its Alec."<p>

Tessa felt sick. She knew how much Magnus loved Alec, it was etched all over his face. If something had happened to Alec she wasn't sure that Magnus would be able to recover.  
>"Magnus what happened to Alec?" she said in a soothing tone, trying to calm him down. There was a shaky breath from the other side of the line as Magnus steadied his breathing.<br>"It's the Clave. Isabelle told me." Magnus paused, as though he was giving Tessa time to remember who Isabelle was. It took a moment, but Tessa placed her as Alec's fierce and stunningly beautiful sister.  
>"What about the Clave?" said Tessa, intrigued.<br>"They took him." Magnus said dejectedly. "After the whole thing with Sebastian the Clave has been in shock. They lost so many Shadowhunters to the fighting, they need to breed as many more as they can get. So a rogue group from the Clave committed to the repopulation of Shadowhunters has taken him."  
>"But why would they take Alec? It doesn't make sense!"<br>"Isn't it obvious?" cried Magnus down the phone. "They took him because he is with me! He cant have children with me, they've probably gone to brainwash him into thinking he's straight!"

Anger coursed through Tessa. How dare the Clave do such a thing?!  
>"Magnus, come to my apartment. Bring Alec's family. I can turn into him, find out where he is and then you can get Clary to portal you to go rescue him, okay?"<br>"Tessa thank you so much!" gasped Magus down the phone. Then the line went dead.

Tearing through her apartment Tessa looked desperately for something related to Alec. Magnus had stayed at hers for a short period of time after he and Alec temporarily broke up, he must have left something she could use to channel him. After almost giving up, Tessa miraculously found a small wallet sized picture of Magnus and Alec outside the pyramids in Egypt. Magnus was in a ridiculous pair of Hawaiian shorts and luminous yellow sunglasses, whilst Alec was watching the camel stood next to them rather dubiously. Tessa smiled to herself, then moved away from all the clutter she had created, concentrating on the photo whilst trying to turn into Alec.

She was interrupted when the door flew open, showing a very bewildered Jem surrounded by 2 Shadowhunters and a very pissed off warlock.


	2. Chapter 2

SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG GUYS, I WILL UPLOAD MUCH QUICKER NOW I PROMISE! HOPE YOU LIKE IT

Magnus stumbled in through the door of the apartment, followed by Isabelle and Jace Lightwood, both of whom looked confused. Jem tripped in the room last with a cup of coffee in his hand. He initial look of surprise at the appearance of the group was gone from his face. After everything that had happened, with Jem being freed from the lifetime of being a silent brother and the war with Sebastian, nothing seemed to surprise him for long anymore.

"Magnus, care to tell us what the hell is going on?" said Jace, his irritation clear in his voice. Tessa had to take a deep breath to remind herself that this was not Will. Although Will had been night with his dark hair and pale pallor and Jace was day with his golden hair the similarities between the two Herondales were undeniable.

"Magnus, I found a picture of you and Alec but I don't think it is linked strongly enough with him to be able to trace him" Tessa explained as the distressed warlock paced in circles around the hallway of the apartment. "Do any of you have anything of Alec's with you that could have a stronger connection to him, something that can be traced by magic?" Tessa appealed to the group cluttered in her hallway but all she was met with were blank faced and a sound of panic as Magnus ran his hands through his hair. Tessa was worried. Magnus was usually so calm and collected, she had never seen him panic like this before. In that moment she realised that she would have to be the brains behind this expedition; Magnus was too terrified about Alec to form a coherent thought and the two shadowhunters were still staring blankly at her.

"I don't mean to be rude..." Jace began in a tone clearly indicating that he did, in fact, mean to be rude, "But Izzy and I, and your fiancé by the looks of it too, still have no bloody idea what the two of you are on about!"

"Magnus!" Tessa exclaimed loudly. The warlock stopped pacing in circles and looked at Tessa, bemused. "You didn't tell them what happened?" she implored.

"Shit" said Magnus looking at his large feet which were currently covered by sequinned shoes. "That May have slipped my mind"

"Yes it bloody well did!" yelled Jace. "You can't just turn up at the institute and drag two shadowhunters away with you! If you weren't my best friends boyfriend I would have kicked your ass!"

At the word 'boyfriend' Magnus paled once more. Isabelle put two and two together and clenched her fists.

"Magnus, where is Alec?" she asked. Tessa could tell she was trying to keep her voice calm although there was an undercurrent running through it, an electric of unconcealed anger and fear.

Magnus looked at his shoes again, wanting to avoid the eyes of the two young shadowhunters and Jem, all of whom were staring at him. "They took him" said Magnus, his voice breaking although it was barely above a whisper anyway. "You know that part of the clave that went AWOL after everything that happened with Sebastian? Well they took Alec. They were all concerned about the reduced numbers of shadowhunters after the war, and not only was Alec dating a downworlder who can't have kids, he was dating another guy. I heard rumours, that they tried to take people, teach them how to be straight, I never believed them. But today Alec was at my apartment. And they came."

Isabelle took a sharp intake of breath and Jace looked like he wanted to punch something. Magnus continued, "they barged down the door, we weren't expecting it and they just took me by surprise. It's my fault, all my fault..." cried Magnus, tears beginning to stream down his face. Jem stepped forward to console him but Magnus stiffened at the touch.

"Don't" he croaked. "Don't tell me it's not my fault because it is. I'm a fucking warlock, magic is all I can do, it's my job to protect Alec if I need to! But they must have a warlock too. They managed to freeze me in my spot, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't move. They must have had a warlock working for them too. They took Alec right in front of me. Shoved a black bag over his head, kicked him and dragged him out of the door. I couldn't do anything." Tears slid silently down his cheeks. "It took me ten minutes to break the freezing charm because I couldn't move! I had to do it with my mind. After that I had exhausted myself of magic, I tried to track Alec but I couldn't, I was too shocked. So I called tessa, she called me to get you. So here we are." Magnus fell quiet.

"Were they..." Isabelle said in a shaky voice, "Were they definitely shadowhunters?"

Magnus nodded. "I could see their marks. They weren't those Endarkened warriors either, or a messed up form of shadow hunter. From what I saw they were the same as you or Jace."

"Shit" swore Jace. "We need to find him. And quickly. If he had been hurt I would have felt it" he touched his parabatai rune absentmindedly, "but that doesn't mean they won't hurt him soon."

"What do we do?" asked Jem

"Magic" replied Tessa


	3. Chapter 3

Uploading chapter 3 the day after, check me! I'm on holiday from school at the moments can write more and faster too, hope you enjoy. Write a review if you want me to continue for longer, I can write a shorter ending of only like two more chapters or I have ideas to make this a longer fic so just tell me what you would like to see :)

"Magnus stepped forward and handed Tessa a pale blue scarf. "Here", he said, "this is something Alec left at my apartment. He has worn it a bunch of times, hopefully you should be able to channel him through it, see where he is." Tessa nodded and accepted the scarf, then shut her eyes, focussing on Alec. She drew on the image of him in her mind, and the scent left on the scarf. The familiar tingling sensation of the change began in her toes then filled the rest of her body with a warm and fuzzy glow. It was funny, Tessa thought as the change took place, that she didn't mind the feeling now. When she had been first forced to transform into someone else all those years ago it had been in a horrific process, resulting in her blacking out many a time.

After several seconds the fuzzing stopped and Tessa looked down at her hands, glad to see that they were no longer her long pale fingers, but the large, nail bitten hands of Alec Lightwood.

"Holy shit" Isabelle said in a hushed voice from the other side of the room. Tessa turned to face her and Jace, both of whom were stood looking half impressed and half terrified. She remembered fleetingly that they had never seen her transform before. Jem and Magnus on the other hand, who had watched this process many a time approached her, asking questions about Tessa.

"Tessa darling" said Jem, his voice full of concern as it always was whenever she changed, "are you okay?" It was more than 100 years ago but she knew he still remembered how awful it had been for her to change at the beginning, the torturous pain, the confusing loss of self identity.

"I am fine Jem don't worry" she replied with a smile, reaching out to touch his hand. Magnus coughed uncomfortably and she immediately withdrew it. For a second she had forgotten that she currently appeared to be Alec Lightwood, and it was inevitably a strange occurrence for Magnus to see his boyfriend touching Jem.

Focussing on Alec's mind, Tessa blocked out everyone in the room and delved into his mind. She wanted to do so cautiously. Whilst in some ways being able to transform into others was a blessing, it was also a curse. She didn't want to stumble upon some thought or memory that was private or personal to Alec, but at the same time she needed to find him as quickly as possible which also involved a certain amount of recklessness.

Images of Alec's life exploded like fireworks into Tessa's mind as she tried desperately to find his current thoughts and locations. Jace and Isabelle laughing with Clarissa Fairchild, a small, brown haired boy with large glasses who had to be Alec's deceased brother Max, and Magnus everywhere, Magnus with Alec, Magnus meeting his family, Magnus lay asleep on the sofa, his head cradled in Alec's lap.

Suddenly, Tessa opened her eyes. Breaking into someone's current stream of thought was like coming up for air after swimming under water for an unimaginable amount of time. Jem, recognising that she had reached Alec's thoughts stepped in front of her.

"Tessa, what is it? Where is he?" He asked her, panic in his voice. Glancing in the mirror on the wall beside her, she realised that a twisted grimace of shock occupied Alec's features. Allowing the transformation to slip, she felt herself become normal again.

"Did you see where he was? Can we find him? Is he okay?" Jace blurted out, his words tumbling in fear

"I know where he is" replied Tessa gravely. "They took him to Idris, he is in one of the cells."

Isabelle said confidently, "I know exactly where they are. The old Inquisitor put Simon in one of them a while ago when he accidentally came to Idris. I know how to get in and everything." She surveyed the faces of everyone in the room. "Well what are we waiting for? Magnus make a portal, we need to get Alec now! God knows what they could be doing to him!"

"Isabelle it's not that simple" said Jem in a soft voice, always the voice of reason. "We can't just make a portal into Idris without telling the Clave, they would have a heart attack, especially so soon after everything with Sebastian."

"But they're hurting him!" She said, her voice rising in hysteria. Although Tessa hadn't known Isabelle that long she had come to observe something about her, something she admired. Isabelle was always the cool headed fighter a shadowhunter she was meant to be, unless it concerned her family. Then she became an even better fighter, yet tended to launch herself blindly into difficult situations. "I know they are" Isabelle continued, her voice shaking slightly, "I could see by the look on Tessa's face. You don't need to protect us you know", she said, gesturing at her and Jace and glaring at Tessa, "we aren't children. Tell me what they have done to my brother!"

Tessa looked Isabelle straight in the eye. She could tell from her steely glare and from the anger burning behind it that she could take the news and focused on her whilst she spoke. She wanted to avoid looking at Magnus, terrified he would break with the words she was about to say.

"Jem, Izzy is right" she spoke gravely. "We do need to make a portal now, regardless of what the clave says. It's a rogue part of the clave doing this anyway, they will surely be grateful we are rescuing Alec. But we have to do it now, otherwise I fear, from what I have seen anyway, that we might be too late."


	4. Chapter 4

_Told you I could do it faster! Poor Alec, I love him but things aren't looking too good for him... I love writing from Alec's perspective, hope you like it too :) _

Alec awoke slowly. He couldn't make out his surroundings, all he saw was black. He could feel an ice cold stone floor beneath him and shivered involuntarily. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, so he was just able to make out his surroundings. He was in a tiny, gray stone room, curled up in a ball on the floor. The room was so small he had to lie in uncomfortable positions just to be able to sleep: he couldn't lie flat out on his back like he normally did; his body was bigger than the width of the room.

He sat up slowly, confused. He recognised the room, but couldn't remember why or how he had come to be in here. Looking up at the small square of moonlight coming in through the window he saw the bars and felt sick. God, he could remember why was here now. There was a throbbing on his forehead. He touched it, cautiously, and it came back red and sticky. The wound he had received when they dragged him from Magnus' house had reopened in the night. His muscles had contorted and twisted as he had been lying down, and he tried to stretch. Suddenly there was an unbearable jolt of pain from his ribs. Alec looked down and once again remembered. His ribcage was so bruised there was none of his pale skin left, just mottled black, blue and red marks. He was sure some of his ribs were broken but he didn't dare prod them to assess damage for fear that it would cause even more pain.

Alec shivered again and rubbed his numb hands up and down his arms in a failing attempt to create friction to keep himself warm. He was terrified, but not because of the pain. No, he was scared that he hadn't remembered where he was. Whilst he was asleep he had allowed himself to dream of a happier time, of lying on the sofa, his head on Magnus' lap, Chairman Meow sat contently purring in his lap, whilst Magnus absentmindedly stroked his midnight hair. When he had awoken it had taken a while to adjust to his surroundings, to feel the injuries he had sustained as a result of the torture once more. Alec vowed there and then that he wouldn't sleep again until he escaped his kidnappers. Dreaming was dangerous. It took you way from reality, made you feel like things could get better when it was blatantly obvious that they wouldn't. But more than that, it made you weak. It numbed the pain of whatever suffering you were going through momentarily, but once you awoke the pain hit you afresh tenfold.

The door of the cell creaked open and in stepped a short man with a horrible grimace on his twisted face.  
>"Wakey wakey little boy, I have got a brand new toy!" he said in a nauseating, taunting voice. When Alec didn't move, he walked over him and stamped on his arm. Alec heard a snap as his bone broke under the man's boot and he screamed in agony. He was used to pain, he was a shadowhunter. But in the past he had always worn runes to protect himself from the worst of it. Now, with no runes to protect him, he felt weak and feeble as he cried against the stone floor.<br>"I SAID MOVE!" yelled the man, "or do you want me to break your other arm too?"

Trying to maintain the last remainder of his dignity Alec clenched his jaw to stop himself crying. He dragged himself upwards using his unbroken arm, ignoring the screaming protests of his bruised and broken ribs and stood up straight to face his captor. The room swayed around him, inevitably a result of his untreated head injury, but he maintained his balance. The man looked at him smugly and retreated down the dark corridor, indicating that Alec should follow him. As he limped down the corridor he wondered what time it was. It had been just before 6pm when they had barged into Magnus flat and taken him. It was definitely still the night, the moon shone bright in the inky sky. So he couldn't have been there for that long. After a rough portal ride they had thrown him into a cell and kicked him, in the head, the ribs, everywhere. They told him that he was a danger to the future of the Clave because he was gay, and he needed changing back to normal. They said that the only way to do that was through their own version of aversion therapy. God knows what that meant.

Thinking of Magnus made panic course through Alec's body. He saw them cast some sort of spell on him before they took him, their side must have had a warlock of their own. The fact that Alec was still stuck in these cells made him worry even more for Magnus: surely if he was able to he would have alerted someone by now?

Alec stepped into a large domed room. The roof was entirely glass, and through it he could see the beautiful starry sky. The room was empty, save for a single metal chair in the centre of the room with manacles where the arms were meant to go. His captor thrust him into the chair and clasped the manacles tightly around his pale, skinny wrists. Then, out of the darkness stepped two more people, a short man and a slender woman. The short man was carrying what appeared to be a mundane baseball bat, but it had shards of glass stuck to it. One these shards was a black, tar like substance, which Alec had a sinking feeling was demon poison. He handed it to the man who had retrieved him from his cell.

"Now Alec", said the man now holding the bat. "We have a little problem here. The shadowhunters are struggling with numbers after the war. We need as many new children as we possibly can." He prowled around the room like a cat ready to pounce. "But people like you" he spat, thrusting the bat close to Alec's face "Stop us from doing that. Now I don't want you to think that we are the bad guys", he gestured to himself and the other two shadowhunters in the room. "We just want to help you! So we are going to teach you not to be gay. This bat here is quite a weapon. I made it myself. The shards are soaked in a mild form of demon poison. Not enough to kill you, no don't worry about that. We wouldn't want more dead shadowhunters would we! No, this is just enough to stop you healing like a shadowhunter. An Iratze won't work on you Alexander, no. So you will heal slowly, like a mundane. This will give us more time to convert you." He finished with a slight grin.

"More time to torture me, you mean?" said Alec grimly through gritted teeth. "It isn't going to work! You can hit me all you like with that thing, you can make my wounds hurt for as long as you fucking like, but this isn't going to work!" He was shouting now, glaring at the shadowhunters. "I can't change! It isn't possible! Don't you think I tried? At first, before I accepted myself I tried everything to make myself straight, but it didn't work!"

"Now now Alec" purred the man. "That isn't a very good attitude is it? Maybe we need to teach you a lesson..."

He struck Alec with the bat, over and over and over. Alec barely had time to feel the pain before he blacked out, his body clearly unable to take any more.


	5. Chapter 5

_**So I really like writing the story from all different peoples perspectives, I am saving my favourite perspective (Magnus) for a later scene so now here is Jace's **__**J**__** hope you like it, Jace is a really difficult character to write...**_

_**Note: All these wonderful characters are owned by the fabulous Cassandra Clare!**_

_**ALSO PLEASE REVIEW AND FOLLOW THE STORY! TELL ME WHAT YOU/WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF :) **_

Jace felt a burning pain through his shoulder. He reached to touch the parabatai rune and it flamed at his touch, feeling just as it had when it had first been drawn onto him all those years ago. He hissed through gritted teeth as Izzy looked at him, her face a pale smudge within her curtains of dark hair, her black eyes wide and terrified. Tessa and Magnus had their backs turned, trying to open a portal. It was immensely difficult to open a portal to Idris unless it had been directly organized by the Clave, the last time anyone had attempted to do so was when Clary practically killed herself and Luke after chasing recklessly after him. Jace couldn't help but be grateful the warlock hadn't seen the pain caused by the parabatai rune. Magnus knew shadowhunters, Jace often wondered if he knew them better than he did himself. He had once explained how he knew about parabatai, how he knew they would sense when the other was in danger. Magnus was enough of a mess as it was about Alec, Jace could see his thin long fingers shaking uncontrollably as he attempted to create a portal. Anything else proving that Alec was being hurt would tear Magnus in half, and they couldn't afford that; Magnus was the only way they could get to Idris.

Suddenly, it was like someone had poured molten silver onto the wall. It shimmered magically around the edges, and through the substance Jace could make out the familiar streets of Idris, swimming through the Portal. Without thinking, Jace launched himself straight into the portal, hand on his seraph blade, barely listening to the shouts of protest behind him. Inside the portal was like a whirlwind. Jace was thrown from side to side, he seemed to be stuck in the mysterious liquid. Idris was clearer but no matter how hard Jace reached and stretched towards it, trying to make it out to the other side he moved no further forward. A huge force came from behind him, like a large boot kicking him in the back, and Jace flew forward, landing face first on the cobbled streets with a nasty crunch. Barely a second passed before Magnus Bane did the same, landing directly on top of Jace, smashing his face into the pavement and sending shocks of pain through his body.

Immediately Magnus got up, ran to the portal and put his hand inside. When he pulled it out, Izzy, Tessa and the man she had called Jem all came in tow. Jace got up slowly, noticing that his nose felt fuzzy. He put his hand to assess the damage and it came away red.  
>"You broke my fucking nose" he growled at Magnus, dusting the stones and mud off his gear. "My face is the money maker and now you have broken my fucking nose!"<p>

Magnus' face flashed scarlet with outrage. "If you hadn't gone jumping into the portal before I could explain I wouldn't have had to rescue you!" he shouted.  
>"Rescue me? How did you rescue me? I got out myself!" replied Jace indignantly.<br>"You stupid shadowhunter, of course you didn't get out yourself! This was an illegal portal into Idris, there was no way it would be like other portal journeys, but then you have to launch yourself into it before thinking! I had to jump in after you and physically kick you to the other side!" Magnus said in disbelief. Jace thought back to the feeling of something hitting him in the back, realising that it was, literally, Magnus kicking him out.  
>"Oh..." said Jace dejectedly. He hated it when he wasn't right. "Well thank you for saving me then. But can someone please give me a bloody iratze?" he said, trying to staunch the blood flow from his nose with the sleeve of his gear.<br>"No time" said Jem, already setting off towards the building where the cells holding Alec were. "The Clave will be alerted that we portalled here. Although if they knew what we were doing I doubt there would be a problem, I hardly think they will listen to us when they think we are imposters and they will surely be a hindrance whilst trying to rescue Alec."

They set off following Jem, running towards the building.  
>"Look, no offense..." Jace began, jogging beside Jem who was in shadowhunter gear.<br>"You are a Herondale" said Jem, a laugh in his voice. "I can assure you that you do mean to offend, nevertheless do continue"  
>"What are you doing here?" Jace asked. "You aren't a shadowhunter anymore after what I did to you. So why are you coming to fight?"<p>

They paused as they reached a towering locked gate at the entrance of the cells. Izzy drew an opening rune on it yet it simply fizzled out and nothing happened.  
>"Dammit" she cursed under her breath. "There is strong magic here. They must have a warlock of their own. If only Clary were here, she could do that opening rune magic in a second!"<br>Magnus stepped forward, chanting incantations at the wall whilst everyone watched intently.

"It is my duty" Jem said to Jace, who tore his eyes away from Magnus and looked at him, confused. "You asked me why I was here" said Jem. "I believe it is my duty to be here. When I was a boy I was dying. I was addicted to demon poison, something beyond my control. But I was shunned from society because of it. Everyone in the Institute loved and cared for me, like you all do for Alec. But in the wider shadowhunter world I was seen as weak. They all believed it was my fault, that I could just choose to stop taking the poison when in reality, stopping would kill me. This is the same with Alec. I know that people think that he is wrong. He isn't, but he is still shunned. I had people help fight for me, it is only fair that Alec had people fight for him."

Jace didn't know what to say in response. He knew Jem was over 100 years old, after all, he had been a Silent brother. But his story, his reason for fighting for Alec moved him.  
>"Well then," began Jace in a low voice, "thank you. For fighting for Alec. I owe you."<br>Jem smiled sadly at Jace. "Oh no Mr Herondale, trust me. I owe you."


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi everyone, I know anyone who reads this will be so mad at me, I am so sorry it has been so long! Bit of an explanation - in England we apply for university in October time so I was crazy busy doing that and then I got an interview for Cambridge so had to work like hell for that! Luckily I managed to get in though which I am so so happy about I cannot explain! Anyway, I have neglected this story so much so if you're awesome and actually read this, I am sorry! Anyway, I thought I could continue from Jace's point of view because he is a super sassy gorgeous model :) _

Jace stared at the stone wall in front of him, looking at the tiny droplets of water racing down the black slabs from the rainfall earlier in the day. He preferred to focus on pointless things rather than toactually concentrate on the dilemma at hand, otherwise rage would fill him and he would mess the whole thing up. Magnus had been chanting at the door for at least five minutes and there was still no luck - a powerful charm resided over this place and it look a powerful warlock to break it. If Jace lost his temper then Magnus would have to begin all over again and it would take longer to get to Alec.

Alec.

The name of this parabatai burned in the back of his mind whenever he thought of him. His shoulder still ached slightly from the pain he felt through the bond earlier, and there were occasional twinges of pain all over his body. He tried to pass them off as pain Fromm exertion and over exhaustion but he knew they were something else. Something that was hurting Alec inside these cold stone walls. After all, he was Jace Herondale - he didn't get tired.

Jace jumped slightly as he heard a sudden grinding of stone which broke the eerie silence that the shadow hunters had been occupying. Magnus had dropped his hands and the door was finally opening, displaying a spiral staircase of steps leading underground. He was deathly pale, but he still took the lead, stringing determinedly down the stairs in search of his boyfriend. It was clear that the spell had taken a lot out of him, and the emotional trauma of Alec being missing certainly didn't help.

As they followed Magnus deeper into the darkness unease settled in the pit of Jace's stomach. It wasn't fear - he was Jace after all - but something about the dank smell and dark walls washed with pain was chilling. Everything was silent, apart from the footsteps of the group as they continued further and further down the stairs. At the bottom there was a lit corridor lined with empty cells. Racing down the corridor Jace checked every cell before the others could catch up, yet they were all empty.

"He's not here" said Jace in a voice just louder than a whisper. "All of these cells are empty! Tessa are you sure you got it right?"

Tessa looked puzzled, walking down the long corridor and examining all of the cells. "Jace I am positive he was here. I am never wrong! I just have no idea where he could be, he was here just five minutes ago, I could sense it!"

There was a small choking noise from the end of the corridor. Jace whipped around to see Izzy clutching Magnus' arm looking like she was about to throw up. Magnus looked like he was going to faint. Jace ran to see what they were looking at. He reached them and looked into the empty cell, the walls of which were splattered with blood. Fresh blood.

"We don't know this is Alec's" said Jace, desperately trying to stay calm.

"yes we do" said Magnus in an unnaturally calm voice, the kind of calm that veiled an oncoming storm. "Look." He pointed towards the corner of a cell to a small piece of cloth in the corner. It was one of Alec's socks, identifiable by the fact that it had Spider-Man on it, a Christmas present given to him from Simon last year.

Forget being Jace Herondale, he thought. He was fucking afraid. Not for himself, but for his best friend. Jace looked away from the cell and towards Jem and Tessa who were stood behind him, both wearing identical looks of horror on their faces.

And then there was a scream.

Not a piercing scream.

A deep hoarse, heartbreaking scream, the scream of someone who had screamed too many times before, who was running out of breath and life. Magnus turned and opened his mouth to yell...


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi everyone! This update is a lot quicker than the last one, again I am so sorry it took forever to update! Anyhow I'm back now! (this is from Magnus' POV)_

The scream tore through Magus. Hearing it made him want to shout, scream, yell, do anything at all if it meant Alec's suffering would stop. And he was about to. He opened his mouth to yell but suddenly he felt a hand aggressively grasp his mouth, muffling the sound he made. He turned around to look at his aggressor and found Jace staring at him, clearly furious.

"Don't be such an idiot!" he hissed in an angry whisper. "We have the element of surprise for Raziel's sake, don't give us away! We need to be silent!"

"But Jace..." Izzy said in a voice that sounded like a dog in pain "Jace we need to go! You and I both know that if somebody screams like that it isn't good! We have to get in there before they do anything serious!"

"It sounds like they're already doing stuff that's pretty serious" said Jem sadly, staring at the dark stone floor, trying to avoid the eyes of the warlock and shadowhunters which were so filled with pain. Magnus saw him glance sideways to stare at Tessa, who had balled her hands into fists in anxiety. The look of love the he gave to her seemed to immediately relax her and Magnus turned away. Even though it was only a look her couldn't help but feel like he was intruding upon an intimate moment.

"I have a plan." said Jace out of the blue, looking excitedly at them all.

"Don't leave us hanging..." said Magnus sarcastically, unable to think of a funnier retort for fear for Alec. He couldn't help but think that something worse was going on behind that door. After all, the screaming had stopped. So what were they doing to him?

Magnus' train of thought was interrupted as he saw a blonde blur whiz past him and take a flying leap at the door at the end of the corridor, bursting it open. Obviously Jace's plan was to be a complete and utter idiot, not inform anyone else of the plan and get them all killed by acting like a reckless little shit. Perfect.

Izzy sped off after him at shadowhunter speed. Jem and Tessa looked concerned but nevertheless followed them into the chamber. But Magnus stood fixed on the spot. He knew Alec was in there. But he couldn't bring himself to move. He was too afraid of what he might see behind that door. He didn't want to see his Alec, his beautiful, gorgeous, adorable, blue-eyed Alec damaged. He heard Jace's raised voice in the chamber. He was no longer taking control to hide the anger in his voice as he had been doing earlier. Magnus heard a torrent of expletives followed by a large crash. This broke him out of his trance and he sped into the chamber to see what was going on.

Inside the chamber was chaos. In the middle of the room was what looked like an operating chair with straps, with a limp body strapped into it. Izzy was bent over the body, her tiny shoulders shaking. Magnus' stomach dropped. He felt like he was going to throw up. Meanwhile, he could hear fighting going on beside him. Jace was still swearing at the top of his voice, attacking a shadowhunter who Magnus recognized to be Alec's captor with his blade, whilst Jem and Tessa were taking on the other two between them. Magnus, seeing that his friends were clearly the superior fighters and would soon be victorious, dashed over to the center of the room, narrowly avoiding the shadowhunter that Jace had literally picked up and tossed across the room.

"Izzy", Magnus said, touching her shoulder.

Isabelle pulled back, tears streaking her pale face. Magnus thought the worst.

"No..." he managed in a hoarse whisper, looking at Alec's body, still in the horrific chair. It was beaten and bloody. He was shirtless, and his entire torso was covered black with bruises. His face hadn't fared much better. There were tiny cuts all over his body, and both of his arms were bent at funny angles - they were clearly broken. And he was clearly dead.

SORRY TO END IT LIKE THIS! THE STORY ISN'T OVER YET THOUGH SO PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! XOXO


	8. Chapter 8

So that was a bit mean of me! So i decided to put this one up really quick because I hate cliffhangers myself! This is still in Magnus' POV and the rest of the story will be in Magnus' POV too xoxo

Magnus felt like he was falling. His life was a snowglobe all shaken up. Seeing Alec lay there dead made him feel empty. He thought she should be crying or shouting or screaming or something. Some dramatic display of grief. But what he felt was so much worse. He just felt empty. It was like on seeing Alec lying there part of him had died, and nothing could ever fill that hollow feeling again. He felt like he was about to faint, and began to sway like a reed in the wind.

"Magnus" Izzy said worriedly, grasping hold of his arm. "Please, you have got to stay strong, you have to help him!"

"I cannot bring back the dead Izzy" he said, his voice tired, weary.

Izzy looked confused. "Magnus, he isnt dead!" She continued taking but Magnus ignored her, her words blurring into nothing. All he could hear was an eerie silence, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from Alec. He stood there, staring, whilst Izzy shook his arm. He felt the presence of the others surround him and noticed that the atmosphere was peaceful once more. The fighting had stopped, they had clearly won. Jace's body moved in front of him, half blocking Alec from his view. Jace tried to say something to him but he still couldn't hear. He felt a hand on his arm, turning him around to face Tessa. Then she slapped him square across the face. The pain was sudden and blinding, but when he blinked he could hear again, and make sense of his surroundings.

"Magnus, pull yourself together." said Tessa firmly. "He isn't dead, he is unconcious and in pain. You need to help him! You're the only one who can!"

"He's really not dead?" whispered Magnus, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

"He's alive" said Tessa smiling slightly. "But you need to help him. And quickly."

Magnus turned around in a rush and shoved Jace and Izzy away from Alec. He placed his hands on his face and sure enough felt his warm, soft breath on his hand, and placing his fingers on his neck felt a pulse. A weak pulse, but a pulse nonetheless.

"You need to iratze him" he said sharply to Jace and Izzy. "I can't take him through a portal like this, he needs to be a little bit better!"

"We can't" said Izzy sadly.

"What do you mean you can't?!" spat Magnus, becoming irate. "Of course you can!"

"No." replied Jace, stepping in front of Izzy. "Those cuts on him were made by an implement tainted with demon blood. Not enough to kill him, he will be okay in that aspect. But it means our runes won't work on him for at least a month. He will have to heal like a mundane."

"Fine!" snapped Magnus. "We still need to get him out of here! If we can't get back to New York, we will have to stay in Idris. Is there anywhere we can go?"

"The Penhallow's house should be empty" replied Izzy. "I will run ahead and set up a bed for Alec. We should be able to remain there for at least a few days until he is well enough to travel." With that Izzy dashed off, with Jem running behind her to help.

Tessa stepped forward to get a better look at Alec's still body. "We need to get him out of here with as little pain as possible. It would be ideal if he could stay unconscious, at least that way he won't feel the pain. At least not until later."

Magnus agreed that Alec staying asleep would be a blessing. Unfortunately, they were not blessed. As Magnus and Jace were tentatively undoing the ties from around Alec's ankles and wrists trying not to disturb his injuries he began to groan. Immediately Magnus jumped up and stroked his face whilst he was coming to.

"Magnus" he croaked in a broken voice.

"I'm here Alec" he said in hushed tones. "You're safe now. Don't worry, you're safe." He stroked his cheek softly, trying to reassure him. Alec's blue eyes opened and stared at Magnus. They were clouded with concussion and with pain.

"Hurts" he managed to say, wincing as Jace unfastened the final tie from around his ankle.

"I know it does baby" said Magus, caressing his hair. "I am so so sorry, we will make you better, I promise."

Alec tried to smile but coughed slightly, and pain dominated his features once more. Magnus was terrified to see blood on his lips that had come up when he was coughing.

"We need to get him away, quickly" said Tessa. "You have to carry him, one of you."

Jace stepped forward to lift Alec but there was a faint "no."

"No." Alec said, "Magnus."

Jace, understanding his parabatai's need, gestured Magnus forward to pick Alec up. It was a difficult job. Alec was never one to complain, trying to keep the cries of pain he felt in his ribs and arms muted when he was lifted. But he didn't succeed. By the time Magnus had managed to get Alec into his arms the boy was sobbing in agony, the crying seemingly making the pain in his broken ribs worse. Magnus' heart shattered.

As Magnus carried Alec out of the chamber and into daylight, he couldn't help but wonder how the hell he was going to survive seeing the love of his life in so much pain.


End file.
